If Galatasaray signed Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder to help them make a greater impact in the Champions League, they will have been massively disappointed with their performance against Chelsea last night.

The highly-paid pair may have combined to send Gala through to the knockout stages at Juventus’ expense, but both were utterly anonymous as Chelsea strolled to a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.

Drogba won the Champions League with his last touch as a Chelsea player, and was met with a vociferous hero’s welcome that dwarfed his quiet performance. At one stage he blasted a free-kick so high over it hit a banner featuring his own face in the upper reaches of the stadium.  He also completely failed to connect with a free-kick in the second half that just needed a slight touch at close range.

OLD F RIENDS— Drogba and Terry

He was the lone striker Gala were relying on to provide the spark in the final third. However, the loss in pace he has suffered at 36, and his physical style, played into the hands of John Terry and Gary Cahill, two physical centre-backs who prefer a battle against strikers of a similar stature rather than quick forwards with a low centre of gravity. Ironically, the two provided more goal threat than Drogba, as Cahill scored the second after Terry’s header was spilled by Gala keeper Fernando Muslera.

Sneijder has been known for saving his best performances for the grandest stage (or not trying hard enough in smaller games, whichever way you look at it). His performances for Netherlands in World Cup finals matches have been outstanding, often earning him man of the match awards against illustrious opponents. He was absent last night. His passing lacked any penetration, and his work rate was poor.

According to OPTA stats (as seen on www.whoscored.com), Drogba and Sneijder were the joint-worst starting players on the pitch, alongside Gala’s Yekta Kurtulus, with a rating of 6/10. This is hardly the level of performance the Gala board expect from the very players brought in to help them make progress in this tournament. If this is how they perform when the club needs them most, it is unlikely the club will want to pay their huge salaries much longer.